With the main objective of growing the Lebanese economy, the National Broadband Strategy is a project initiated by the
Partnership for Lebanon. The Broadband plan would bring larger, high speed communication pipes that would allow Lebanese citizens to have faster access to information and change the way they live, work, play, and learn. The TRA, with the support of Partnership for Lebanon, is currently developing a broadband strategy for Lebanon . This action plan includes ADSL, IPTV, VPN and other value added services. The Authority is actively preparing the ground for broadband development by organizing the market structure and licensing scheme and defining a clear and regulatory framework.
On the market structure and licensing level, the TRA will:
- Issue two new backbone licenses
- Regularize ISP/DSP licenses
- Open metro access
On the regulatory framework side, the TRA will:
- Issue the Interconnection regulation
- Draw the infrastructure sharing for backbone operators
- Plan efficient frequency pricing
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) with the collaboration of Cisco, on behalf of the Partnership for Lebanon, organized a workshop titled “Broadband Stakeholders Workshop” under the auspices of H.E. Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of Telecommunications (MOT), on Thursday January 17th 2008 gathering a large number of experts from ISPs and DSPs key officials in the Telecommunications industry to discuss the challenges related to the implementation and development of high-speed broadband in Lebanon.
The workshop revolved around four main objectives:
- Increase awareness on the broadband benefits in terms of economic growth and social cohesion.
- Emphasize on the key role of both private and public sectors in the success of this project.
- Review and assess the current obstacles that broadband development faces
- Expose the necessary regulatory framework and ideal market structure based on a technical, potential and regulatory analysis.
To view the workshop material click on:
To view the workshop pictures click here.